new economy

　　

"Regulators in Brussels have reached a long-awaited deal that will force companies like Apple to use universal chargers for smartphones and laptops." The European Commission will require all smartphones to be equipped with USB Type-C charging ports as early as autumn 2024 in a bid to cut waste, the Financial Times reported. Although the new regulation does not name any company, it is known to global consumers that apple is the only mainstream smartphone brand that uses its Lightning charging port for iPhone. The decision of EU will mainly affect Apple and its upstream and downstream industry chain, a large part of which is located in China.

CNN reports that the European Commission has agreed to require the same Type-C charging port for a range of electronic devices, including phones, tablets and cameras. The rules are expected to come into force in the autumn of 2024 and the EU will be the first region in the world to standardise ports for charging mobile phones. The EU says it will help consumers save about 250 million euros a year by unifying charging ports.

According to almost all reports, Apple will be the smartphone manufacturer most affected by this change. Its iphones still use Lightning charging port, while the new phones of other major brands, including Huawei, Samsung and Xiaomi, almost all use Type-C port. According to an EU report, about 18% of new phones sold in 2019 were iphones equipped with Lightning charging port, while type-C accounted for about 44%, and 38% used the older USB Micro-B port.

Sun Yongjie, an independent ICT commentator, told the Global Times on Tuesday that apple's MacBook and some ipads already use type-C. Technically, there is no problem with changing the interface of the iPhone, but the change will more or less have an impact on its revenue and profits. Meanwhile, the new EU rules will also affect companies in Apple's upstream and downstream supply chain. Mr. Sun noted that many of Apple's accessories, such as its Lightning cables, are made in China, and their businesses may need to be adjusted.

According to a recent report by market research firm HNY, the world's mobile charging cables used in consumer electronics are mainly manufactured in Mainland China, Taiwan, Vietnam and the United States. Among the major producers listed in the report, Green Union, Pengyuansheng, Pinsheng and Anke are all based in mainland China. Take Green Link, which recently applied to list on The A-share market. According to its prospectus, its sales of charging products, including data cables, reached rmb788m in 2021. A global Times reporter sent an email to Green Union on Monday asking how the new EU rules will affect the company, but received no response as of press time.

According to Counterpoint Research, Apple will have a 26 percent market share of the European smartphone market in 2021, second only to Samsung. Xu, an Ethnic Chinese who has lived in Paris for many years, told the Global Times that the most common local brands are Apple and Samsung, while Chinese, students and some locals prefer Chinese brands such as Huawei, Xiaomi and OPPO. "Although popular, one of the problems that people often make fun of for iPhone is that the charging cable is expensive and fragile." According to Mr. Xu, the price of Apple Lightning data cable is generally above 10 euros, while the type-C data cable used by other mobile phones is mostly sold at 6.99 euros or 7.99 euros.

"Third party manufacturers apple cable is more expensive to a certain extent is due to the need to pass apple Mfi certification, and the certification and inspection fee income was one reason why apple doesn't want to give up 20 interface", yong-jie sun, according to the analysis of the eu's new rules on basic is a foregone conclusion, apple is not likely to give up such a big market in Europe, big probability can make a change.

Sun said it remains to be seen whether other countries and regions, including China, will follow the EU's lead in unifying mobile phone charging ports.

Global Times noted that Ding Lei, CEO of NetEase and a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), called for integration of charging interface technologies in a proposal earlier this year to reduce e-waste and improve resource utilization efficiency. In its response to the proposal, miIT said the current smart terminal market is dominated by USB-C (USB Type-C) ports, with multiple interfaces and charging technologies coexisting. After users replace the equipment, most of the original chargers and data lines are idle, resulting in huge waste. In the next step, we will continue to promote the formulation of relevant national standards, promote the integration and unification of charging interfaces and technologies, and improve the recycling and utilization rate of electrical and electronic products.